Pentonville prison condemned by inspector for failing to let inmates in wheelchairs go outside

Prisoners in wheelchairs at London’s Pentonville prison are being denied the chance to go outdoors in a practice condemned as “wholly unacceptable” by a government watchdog.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the failure to allow disabled inmates the chance of fresh air was an example of the “inadequate treatment and conditions for prisoners with disabilities” as he hit out over standards inside the nearly 200 year old jail.

Mr Taylor also warned that some disabled prisoners were “unable to shower regularly because the shower facilities were not accessible” and that 70 per cent reported feeling “victimised” by staff.

He says that prisoners in wheelchairs should be moved to other prisons if they cannot be given time outdoors during the day and makes a series of other recommendations on improving conditions for the disabled and other inmates.

He adds: “Treatment and conditions for prisoners with disabilities were inadequate. The layout of Pentonville prevented sufficient access to facilities and some prisoners, especially wheelchair users, could not go outside. This was wholly unacceptable.”

Mr Taylor’s rebuke comes in the latest damning assessment by his inspectorate of conditions inside Pentonville, which he describes as “one of the country’s oldest and most famous institutions” and “largely unchanged structurally in nearly 180 years”.

The prison, which has just under 1,000 inmates, has in recent years suffered a high-profile escape, drugs flown in by drone through broken windows, a homicide, and several suicides, including four in the period covered by the latest inspection.

Mr Taylor says that “fragile” progress has been achieved despite this, but lists a series of outstanding problems including serious concerns about safety which have left a third of inmates reporting that they feel unsafe.

It says the “poor” response to emergency bells is one reason and adds: “Throughout most of the year, more than 30 per cent – and on some wings as many as 50 per cent – of cell bells were not responded to within five minutes, and many were taking considerably longer to answer.

“Many prisoners expressed concerns for their safety given the length of time it was taking to get a response to cell bells.”

The report points out, however, that violence has declined after a “spike in both assaults by prisoners on staff and other prisoners during the summer” and that prison staff are trying to “develop a response to the drivers of violence, such as the role of gang affiliation”.

In other findings, Mr Taylor’s report, which is based on “scrutiny” visits in October and November this year, says that the prison remains “overcrowded and under-staffed” and suffers from “deteriorating physical conditions”.

It says that only a quarter of prisoners were employed, but that the remainder generally spend no more than 45 minutes a day out of their cells.

Mr Taylor says that his inspectors received “many comments about the impact of such confinement on prisoners’ health and well-being” as a result and that self-harm had increased during the period since coronavirus restrictions inside came into effect.

His report adds, however, that social distancing was “all but impossible in some areas” and rarely attempted by staff even when achievable and that this was a concern to prisoners, who were also worried about the risk of infection being brought into the jail from outside.

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Tags: Pentonville